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 CONSIDERATIONS 
 
 PRELIMINARY, 
 
 TO THE 
 
 I'ixing the Supplies, the Ways and Means, 
 
 AND .* 
 
 The Taxes for the Year i78i» 
 
 ADDRESSED 
 
 To the Minifter and the Public, 
 
 Talibus infidiis, perjurlque arte Sinonis, 
 Credita res j captique dolis, iacrymifque coa<Sli, 
 Quos neque Tydides, nee LariiTaus Achilles, 
 Non atini domuere decern, non mille carinse. 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 J^rinted for J. A l m o n and J. D e b R E t t, oppofite 
 
 Burlington Houfe^ ^iccadlll^^
 
 CONSIDERATIONS 
 
 PRELIMINARY, &c. 
 
 NOW whilft countlefs million^ 
 all unafked, all unfolicited, all 
 unexpefted court our minifter's ac- 
 ceptance ; now whilft the only 
 cmbarraflment is a fele£tion of the 
 happy few (compared with the 
 many that apply) whom he means 
 to bind faft to himfelf, by the folid 
 obligation of a participation in this 
 rich fubfcription ; — Now, I fay, is
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 the time, when the neceflaiy talk of 
 dating the dark and debtor fide of our 
 account, cannot be held invidious. 
 
 We have for fome years been 
 engaged in a war, which if not the 
 moft glorious, is at leaft the moft 
 expenfive, that this, or we be- 
 lieve any other nation ever waged : 
 which, ralh and unhappy from the 
 beginning, led on by flattery, by 
 eafy faith, and fond belief, and 
 willing to be deceived, we have 
 brought to an extent and magnitude 
 that in it's continuance and confe- 
 quences threatens the very eix:iftence 
 of Britain, as an independant flate. 
 Another campaign is refolved on 
 
 againft
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 agalnft new enemies of greater 
 fcope and energy, and confequently 
 of greater expence than any we 
 have yet experienced. At the clofe 
 of which at Chriftmas, 1781, the 
 debt incurred by the prefent war 
 which is now about fixty mil* 
 lions Will exceed the debt, a- 
 mounting to about feventy - two 
 miUions contraded in the laft glo- 
 rious ^nd fuccefsful War carried 
 on under the aufpices of that great 
 ftatefman, the late Earl of Chatham. 
 The principal fum of the debt 
 will not probably exceed the debt 
 of laft war, more than four or five 
 millions: yet fuch has been the 
 B 2 fcarcity
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 fcarcity of money, fuch the \xr\^ 
 happy preflure and exigency of the 
 times, that though the yearly in- 
 tereft and benefits attending the 
 debt of Lord Chatham's war a- 
 mounted only to about two mil- 
 lions five hundred thoufand pounds, 
 yiet the yearly intereft and benefits 
 payable by the public for thfe debt 
 contrafted by the prefent war, will 
 on Chriftmas, 1781, amount nearly 
 to four millions. The excrefcent 
 interefi: of one million five hun- 
 dred thoufand pounds, valued at 
 fifteen years purchafe (fome of the 
 annuities being for Ihort terms) and 
 added to the excrefcent principal 
 
 of
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 t){ four or five millions, will make 
 the total fum by which the ex- 
 pence of the prefent war will at 
 €hrifl.mas^ I'jSi, have exceeded 
 the e)^penfce of the laft war, 
 amount to neatly twenty - eight 
 milliohs* I ftate fafts: the diffe- 
 rence, fetal difFerence of our pre-^ 
 fent fituation and future profpe<9:s, 
 then and now, I do not enter. into^ 
 I write to inform, and to be in- 
 formed, not to offend. 
 
 By nearly four millions, therefore, 
 the annual demand on the public 
 (which before the war amounted only 
 in all, to four millions fix hundred 
 thoufand pounds) will be greater 
 
 at
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 at Chriftmas, 1781, than it was 
 at the commencement of the pre- 
 fent war. Now the income of the 
 Sinking Fund having fallen back on 
 an average of 1 7 7 8 and 177 9,^' from 
 what it produced in the moft prof- 
 
 perous 
 
 "^ The produce of the Sinking Fund, which 
 amounted for the year ©ftfetflg" on the 5th of 
 April 1779, only to two million two hundred 
 and ninety-eight thoufand nine hundred and fe- 
 venty-two pounds, advanced in the following 
 year; from caufes, of which, I am intirely ig- 
 norant ; four hundred and twenty-three thou- 
 fand three hundred and thirty-nine pounds, 
 and produced from the 5th of April 
 1779, to the 5th of April 1780, two 
 millions fcven hundred and twenty - two 
 thoufand three hundred and eleven pounds; 
 Ihould this increafc be permanent, the decreafe 
 m the produce of ihe Sinking Fund will be lefs 
 
 than
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 perous years of the laft peace^ 
 almoft fix hundred thoufand pounds 
 yearly, and the annual income of 
 the new taxes (as far as we yet can 
 judge) being not likely to exceed 
 the fum of one million two hundred 
 thoufand pounds, it follows that 
 the total amount of the national in- 
 come has not hitherto been increafed 
 much more than fix hundred thou- 
 fand pounds yearly : and as thefe new 
 
 than dated above •, particularly as one hundred 
 thoufand pounds yearly, was taken from it in 
 1777, to augment the income of the Civil 
 Lift. Why does the noble Lord conceal the 
 triumphs of his budget ? I only learnt the 
 advantageous part of this bufinefs fince I came 
 to town, and that from circumftantial, not 
 diredt evidence. 
 
 taxes
 
 ( s ) 
 
 taxes, though certainly many of 
 them are feledied with judgement 
 and deUberation, are likely to pro- 
 duce little more than two thirds of 
 what they were given for, and that 
 attended with fo considerable a di- 
 minution of the Sinking Fund, little, 
 it IS feared, can be expefted from 
 any more new taxes, which pofli- 
 bly, like a gun overcharged, may 
 lather recoil back upon and leflen 
 the produce of thofe already impo- 
 fed. I am well aware that the ex- 
 treme cheapnefs of grain in the 
 beginning of laft year may, and 
 the General Eledion towards the 
 clofe of it muft have produced ap- 
 
 perances
 
 ( 9 ) 
 pearances much more favourable 
 during that period than thofe ftated 
 here, but, taking the one with the 
 other, the decreafe of the Sinking 
 Fund with the deficiency of the 
 taxes, upon a farther trial and longer 
 experience, I prefume I fhall not be 
 found to have erred very widely 
 from the truth. 
 
 Yet let us not link without a ftrug- 
 gle, let us make fome attempt to keep 
 at fault, this Hell-hound bankruptcy : 
 every turn, every Ihift, every double 
 in fuch a caufe is meritorious. Let 
 us th^n accept of thefe countlefs 
 proiFered milHons, even to their ut- 
 moft extent. Let us borrow thirty 
 millions : nay, ftart not ! J am ia 
 earneft, we have ftomach for them 
 C ten
 
 ( lO ) 
 
 all. The campaign will require 
 from fixteen to twenty of them: 
 ten millions more or near it will be 
 neceffary to difengage the public 
 from the enormous ufury they pay 
 for all the denominations of paper 
 they ifTue that have not parlia- 
 mentary fandion : which, fuppofing 
 the moral reditude of Contradlors 
 to be at par^ and that they exaS: 
 no more from the public than the 
 difcount exafted from them by 
 thofe to whom they fell their de- 
 mands on the public to, is at leaft 
 twelve per cent: now this plan 
 being carried into execution, and 
 adhered to, monev being to be had 
 on loan at fix per cem^ or under, 
 
 a future
 
 ( " ) 
 
 a futtire faving will accrue to the 
 public of half the difcount that 
 they pay for whatever they iflue m 
 this manner yearly : and the fum 
 it. is believed for land and fea fer- 
 yices does not fall fliort of fix miU 
 lions. The circulation likewife of 
 government paper of every kind, 
 choaked and overloaded by fo many 
 Navy Bills and other government 
 fecurities not fanftioned by parlia- 
 ment, crouded into the market, will 
 be quickened and invigorated; con- 
 trafts will be made on infinitely bet- 
 ter terms, better provifions, better 
 materials, better ftores of every 
 kind will be obtained by govern- 
 C 2 ment.
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 ment, and at much lower prices^ 
 with equal, if not fuperior advantage 
 to the Contraftors. We have now 
 nearly difpofed of our thirty millions, 
 and if two or three ftiould remain, 
 they may be ufefuUy employed to 
 redeem the taxes pledged at intereft 
 to the Banki 
 
 So far we have proceeded ration- 
 ally, we think ; but whether prac- 
 ticably or not, we cannot fay : but 
 much yet remains to be done: for 
 the attempting of which we flatter 
 ourfeives, this is the fated happy 
 hour. All is peace now within the 
 cabinet ; all is good will tbwards 
 Minifters without it : each bofom 
 beats for Trans -Atlantic glory, and 
 honeft Arnold raifes loud the war 
 
 whoop,
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 whoopj and brandiflies high the 
 flaming torch that is to fet his native 
 country on fire. America hums to 
 be re-united to the mild Mother 
 Country : now is the moment, now 
 mull taxes go down, now or never : 
 now let the noble Lord in the Blue 
 Ribbon come forward, and bring 
 with him his amiable ;^o« chalance^ 
 his engaging gaiety and good hum-^ 
 our, that blunts or turns afide th^ 
 keeneft ihafts of oppofition; hi^ 
 
 Quips and cranks, and watiton wiles. 
 Nods and becks, and vr reached fmiles : 
 
 now let him, in the phrafe of the 
 turf, lay it on thick. Let France be 
 a bankrupt, Spain a beggar, Hol- 
 land poffefling wealth only for us to 
 feize and turn againft the Bourbon 
 
 league:
 
 ( 14 ) 
 
 league: the northern arm^d neu- 
 trality, a rope of fand : Britain as 
 boundlefs in her refources, as pru*- 
 dent in the management and oecono- 
 my of them. The name of misfor- 
 tune not known, but in faftious 
 pamphlets and republican news-pa-^ 
 pers ; in the Gazette tlie current of 
 fuccefs knows no interruption. Poor 
 Monfieur Neckar, the great protef- 
 tant^ French Financier flanding on 
 flippery; ground, has nothing but his 
 prefumed merit to fupport him. 
 His plans want extent and energy. 
 The paltry fifteen huqdred thoufand 
 pounds, he borrows for the fervice 
 of the current year, (and fhabbily 
 means to repay principal and in- 
 tereft in nine years, without im- 
 
 pofing
 
 (15 ) 
 pofing any new tax), wo\ild fcarce 
 fupply with vinegar and rum the 
 viftorious armies of my gracious 
 mafter, and leave a living profit to 
 the contrador. The French nobleffe 
 love war, but not a frugal war, not 
 a war at fea ; next paquet will 
 probably bring accounts of his re-- 
 treat to his native Geneva, into the 
 bofom of his mother church. Spain 
 unhappy Spain, is ignorance itfelf in 
 the fublime fcience of Finance : what 
 is (he good for, who does not even 
 know what Scrip and Omnium mean, 
 and makes no other ufe of Jews but 
 to burn them ? Spain has not wif- 
 dom to tafte of the cheering invigo- 
 rating cup of funding; America 
 has drank too deep : Ihe has fwal- 
 
 lowed
 
 ( i6 ) 
 
 lowed it up dregs and all: the fweet 
 poifon has made her drunk ; her 
 credit flaggers; it reels ; it falls. In 
 Britain alone, under the prefent 
 Miniftry, is vigour with caution, en- 
 terprize with prudence, and by the 
 peculiar felicity of the times, aided 
 hy the confummate addrefs of his 
 Majefty's Minifters, all care of any 
 interefts but thofe purely, ftriftly, 
 find cxclufively Britifh, is at an end. 
 We ftand on a bottom truly Britifh ; 
 and I mention it as the glory, as the 
 triumph, of the prefent fervants of 
 the crown. All Europe is either in 
 open or fecret hoftility againft us. — 
 From the rage of interefted men, 
 who hunger and thirft after the poor 
 emoluments I and my family hold 
 
 and
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 and endeavour to deferve by a la- 
 borious difcharge of the duties of 
 them ; from faftious malice, I fly to 
 the arms of this honourable houfe : 
 they have ever been open to receive 
 me, and will not in this trying hour, 
 be Ihut againft me, from the dc- 
 cifions of this auguft, impartial, 
 unbiaffed aflembly, the fole immu- 
 table tell of truth, the world will 
 judge of me and my opponents ; and 
 I provoke the appeal. — Loud hear 
 him's, hear him's of applaufe, in 
 boifterous acclaim fhake the houfe. 
 The work is done: the deficiency 
 of the new taxes will, it is cftimated, 
 amount to about fix hundred thovif- 
 and pounds yearly : the intereft of 
 the thirty milHons to be borrowed, 
 D will
 
 (■ i8 ) 
 
 will amount to one million, eight 
 hundred thoufand pounds, at {\^per 
 cent; both together amount to two 
 millions, four hundred thoufand 
 pounds. Nowtodo thingseffedually, 
 and to avoid fhort ftatings and fhort ^ 
 produces, let the noble Lord devife 
 and impofe on the willing public, a 
 tax, or taxes, that will produce three 
 millions yearly into the Exchequer; 
 Without this, or fome other 
 operation of fimilar force and 
 energy, he does nothing. The 
 making good the defediye taxes, the 
 intereft of the unfunded debt under 
 parliamentary fanftion, and theenor^ 
 mous ufury paid for that part of it 
 that has not the fanOiion of Par- 
 liament y probably nearly exhaufts 
 
 the
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 the prefent income of the Sinking 
 Fund ; and may, if not attended 
 tq foon, the e:xpence of war 
 being ever progreffive> ever encreafr 
 ing, create a new capital of debt^ a 
 fuperadded prefTure to thofe we 
 ^re already gafping for breath under. 
 Without a Sinking Fund, of about 
 three million, (nothing befides, ex^ 
 Gcpt the annual malt and land taxes 
 being left unappropriated,) not even a 
 Peace Eftablifhrnent can be formed; 
 thateftablifhment requires about two 
 millions yearly from the Sinking 
 Fund, and one millon more is fcarce 
 enough for the chapter of accidents; 
 afid to make fome faint appearance 
 of a redemption and diminution of 
 Da , a debt
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 a debt exceeding, I cannot fay hoW 
 much ; two hundred millions. The 
 Sinking Fund created even by the 
 purfuit of the prefent plan, willfcarce 
 exceed three millions. 
 
 If a Sinking Fund of three million 
 is neceflary for 2i peace eftablifliment, 
 what muft be neceflary for a ftate 
 of war ? indeed in any view of ra- 
 tional poflibility, war in our prefent 
 iituation and circumftance is mad- 
 nefs ; but th,e frenfy of attempt- 
 ^ing it, with five millions yearly, 
 which would be the annual public 
 eftate, provided the foregoing plan 
 'was praQiicable, is fomething more 
 excufable than that of attempting 
 it with but two : and the land and. 
 annual malt tax?s, being much ove 
 
 rated
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 rated ; particularly the laft, and 
 eaten down with long anticipations 
 and heavy intereft, fcarce I believe 
 at prefent, produce fo much ;7^/ in- 
 to the Exchequer. What! with an 
 annual income of two millions, wage 
 war with France, with Spain, with 
 America, with Holland, and by the 
 more than probable confequences of 
 our wrong-headed quarrel with the 
 laft mentioned Power, with all mari- 
 time Europe? With an income of 
 two miUions, with perhaps a cafual 
 trifle more from the Sinking Fund, 
 incur an annual expence of twenty 
 millions. For whom is Bedlam referv- 
 ed, if thofe who hold the poffibiUty 
 of the coQtinuace of fuch a fyftem 
 
 walk
 
 ( « ) 
 
 walk at large? ftrange government! 
 made up of the word and weakeft 
 parts of each of the parties that 
 divide the land ; Tory pride and 
 ignorance, joined with Whig profu- 
 fidn and paffion for war. 
 
 it will be anfvyered, fubfcriptions 
 croud upon us : perhaps they do* 
 Folly, fed by fuccefs of the laft two 
 years has grown contagious. In the 
 delirious calenture of the South Sea 
 year, their flock was at an advance 
 of ten for one, and fo help me 
 God^. as I do think that the South 
 Sea fpeculation (if fome ftroke of 
 energy cannot be ftruck without 
 convulfing the ftatc) did not war 
 
 more
 
 ( ^3 1) 
 more with the phyfical poflibilitjr 
 ©f things, than the national debt^ 
 managed as- it is, and of the ftiagt 
 nitude it is grown to, fo rapidly in- 
 creafed, fo rapidly inereafing. 
 
 Some fmaller matters have been 
 likewife urged: a reduftion of in- 
 tereft from four to three J)er ceni^ 
 on the annuities 1760 and 1762, 
 which amounts to two hundred 
 thoufand pounds yearly. This i;s 
 allowed . and fure. Something too 
 is expefted from the Eaft India 
 Company for the renewal of their 
 charter : ut it is doubted, whidier 
 they can afford much : and that 
 little w^U probably be remote and 
 /^pnendant cm t^^^ ^'"'^ardous ven- 
 tures
 
 ( 24 ) 
 tures that the Company drives of 
 trade, of conqueft, and, of em- 
 pire : ventures of which the Com- 
 pany feems only to ftand all the 
 hazard and the lofs : their fervants 
 to reap all the profits : their fervants 
 now perhaps^ but foon thofe of the 
 minifter, (and no inconliderable addi- 
 tion to that all-devouring influence 
 that confumes the land.) Here pe- 
 rifhed our beft hope ; from the trea- 
 fures of the Eaft alone, the Weftern 
 wafte could have been repaired : the 
 reft is not much, but a zero in the 
 vaft account. 
 
 The wafte and want of men, I 
 
 will not urge, though I believe 
 
 equally prefling with that of 
 
 money
 
 ( 25 ) 
 
 money, yet, poflibly, not fo de- 
 monftrable as to other difficulties, 
 or rather impradicabilities of the 
 war. Some years ago I prefumed to 
 oiFer to the public my poor opinions 
 on them, which a long and unfortu- 
 nate experience has not hitherto 
 materially contradifted. The con- 
 fummate military talents of Sir 
 Henry Clifiton^ the prefent Com- 
 mander in Chief in America^ will 
 put them to a fevere and decilive 
 tell. 
 
 Should any thing here fet down 
 be hazarded too much, the induV 
 gence of the public is humbly alked. 
 I mean to awaken the drowfy atten- 
 tion of the people, to roufe the na- 
 E tion
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 tion from the mortal flumbers of 
 liitlefs apathy, from the fleep of death. 
 I mean not to underftate the pubUc 
 difficulties, but I do not wifh to ex- 
 aggerate them. All the materials 
 ntceffary to make up an abfolutely 
 accurate account, are not at the 
 command of a private individual. 
 Concealment of the truth is feldom 
 good policy. Sufpicion ever goes 
 beyond reality: it is therefore the 
 intereft, as well as the duty of thofe, 
 at w^hofe command the proper vouch- 
 ers are, to fatisfy and remove, if they 
 can, the public apprehenfions. Let 
 them do fo, let them fliew to con- 
 vidtion, that I am capitally and fun- 
 damentally wrong : and I fhall, with 
 infinite fatisfadlion, as publicly re- 
 
 traft
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 traft my errors as I now avow them: 
 and fliall, in all humility, kifs the 
 rod of correftion. But let not the 
 public take the change : a few ca- 
 vils, a few fraftional errors prove 
 nothing. I repeat it, if I am not 
 capitally and fundamentally wrong, 
 the prefent fyftem of Finance cannot 
 be right, cannot be conliftent, can- 
 not be permanent. An error of even 
 a few millions, in the grofs amount 
 of a public debt, fo enormous, of a 
 few hundred thoufand pounds yearly, 
 in an expenditure fo vaft, in outgo- 
 ings fo difproportioned to our in- 
 comes, is of no material confcquence 
 or duration, in the rapid courfe of 
 running into debt that wepurfue; 
 E 2 a prefent
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 a prefent aggravation of tliis kind 
 becomes an extenuation in a few 
 months. Fads and figures are of 
 no fadion, my little all is at ftake, 
 the all of every individual is in- 
 cluded, and concluded in that ''of 
 the ftate, public meafures, public 
 characters are the fair objefts of the 
 fevereft, boldeft difquifition, private 
 charadiers are facred over their fail- 
 ings, humanity throws a veil, Iheds 
 a fympathifing confcious tear. If I 
 deceive the public, I deceive myfelf 
 firft, the moft difficult of all deceits. 
 Whyfliould I deceive? Slave to no 
 fyftem, attached to no party, weaned 
 from ambition, nor wifhing nor 
 hoping for place or preferment, pof- 
 feft of all the wealth I want, of titles 
 
 that
 
 ( 29 ) 
 
 that I well could fpare, for they am 
 barren and pernicious all, fevering 
 their owner from his neareft deareft 
 relationfhip to the Hate; a Peer, and 
 yet no Peer, hard fate! forced to 
 love and to revere that conftitution 
 that does me fuch cruel wrong* A 
 fufferer too in the caufc of freedom 
 and of truth, for dealing in opinions 
 unlicenfed by the ftamp of power t 
 thruft from the public councils of 
 the ftate, unhoufeled, unanointed^ 
 unannealed, each entrance into pub- 
 lic life barred fafl againft me ; Iliut 
 out from public confequence, public 
 ufcjfrom all the fplendid diftinftions 
 in a free ftate, which the generous 
 mind pants after, dearer far than 
 
 fordid
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 fordid heaps of hoarded gold ; an 
 
 obfcure alien in my native land, 
 
 ^is tarn crudeks optavit fumere poenas ? 
 Cui tantiim de te Ucuit ? 
 
 One poor prefumptuous hour of dif- 
 ference in opinion, backed by no 
 vote, cancelling all former obliga- 
 tions, for, called forth by minifters, 
 I had flood their champion, warred 
 on their fide, had fought and won 
 their battles, no needv hireling, no 
 mercenary ally, nor claiming ought, 
 but the cleareft rights of rational 
 man, Reafon's great charter, the 
 freedom to follow where convidion 
 led the way. — But I digrefs too 
 long, idly prolix, yet not without 
 fome fond hope that what is here fet 
 
 dowuj
 
 ( 31 ) 
 
 down, will not be altogether vain ; 
 and fhould the jftate furvive the 
 pelting of the prefent ftorm, perhaps 
 my perfonal private wrongs, of 
 themfelves insignificant, in fome fu-^ 
 lure happy patriot hour, may be 
 urged as arguments to enforce the 
 neceffity of new modelling and re- 
 ftoring a moral poffibilty of indepen- 
 dence to all the conftituent parts of 
 the upper Houfe of Parliament; tht 
 judge in the laft refort of all the 
 property within the three king- 
 doms. 
 
 From the firft dawn of this un- 
 happy bufinefs, this fource of all 
 ills, this pernicious American War, 
 till this lucklefs hour, I held up a 
 
 feeble
 
 ( 32 ) 
 
 feeble, unavailing, foreboding hand 
 agrainft it, watched in anxious fuf- 
 pence for fome lucid interval, feme 
 paufe of returning reafon, alas ! all 
 in vain, for pride, made obftinate by 
 bafe flattery, made bold by fervile 
 compliance, and fure majorities in 
 parliament, foured by difappoint- 
 ment,from misfortune fiercer grown, 
 fets the falvation of the ftate on 
 every defperate caft, regardlefs of 
 the. odds. 
 
 Without fy Hem for an hour; 
 the little crooked vulgar prejudices 
 of narrow minds, carried into public 
 life, and blind fubmiffion held to 
 attone for the abfence of every ta-g 
 knt^ every virtue ; each great con- 
 
 cern
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 cern is made the fport of rafti re- 
 fentment, unjuft partiality, and pri- 
 vate fpleen ; purfuing ends all un- 
 equal to our means, objefts all out 
 of proportion to our powers, the 
 deareft interefts of this great em- 
 pire, the empire itfelf is brought 
 now to ftand on the frail bafe of 
 the pufFed millions of a deluiive 
 fubfcription, on the little arts of eir- 
 cumcifed and uncircumcifed Jews, 
 modelling to their own, and to the 
 purpofes of the minifler the wild 
 paroxifms now high, now low, now 
 hot, now cold, of a credulous ca^- 
 pricious mifguided, misjudging mul- 
 titude. 
 
 The informed unimpaflioned phi- 
 
 lofophic mind, views with pity the 
 
 F planet
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 planet ftruck croud, hurrying to 
 embark their all in defperate ven- 
 ture on the overloaded bottom of 
 the ftate, gazes with wonder on the 
 fplendid igftis fatuus that his fo 
 long mifled the nations all around; 
 the magnetic moon-fhine, with no 
 repuliive force, that invariably has 
 drawn from age, from caution, from 
 avarice, from every colour, from 
 every clime, from every fhade and 
 gradation of varied life, golden har- 
 vcft's home to Britain's chalky cliffs; 
 realifing in this our ifle, barren of 
 fuch rich produftions, tlie fabled 
 ftreets of Dorade, paved with precious 
 ftones, and the fliores of the Lake of 
 Paraima, bound in with rocks of 
 
 gold,
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 goid, — ill-fated wealth ! as idly 
 fquandered, as eafily obtained, — jet 
 ftay, bright illufion ftay yet awhile 1 
 {Lining bubble, burft not till I am 
 duft. I wifh not to live to fee of 
 indigence the iron reign, to view 
 the agonizing hufband hanging over 
 the famiftied wife, the frantic mo- 
 ther, with heart-piercing fhrieks 
 demanding, all in vain, bread for 
 her ftarving infants, the whetted 
 knife, the dagger's point, the poi- 
 Toned cup, and every mode of ex- 
 peditious death, friendly tp defpair. 
 Better far, than moping melancholy, 
 ever brooding over misfortune, than 
 moody madnefs laughing wild amid 
 
 feverefl
 
 . ( 36 ) 
 
 fevereft woe ; than all the horrors 
 that ftern nccefHty forces id"'£ommit, 
 and forces to excufe. 
 
 Soveriegn of willing fubjeas, huf- 
 band of a virtuous wife^ father of 
 many children of great hopes, King, 
 
 hufoand, father, by all and each of 
 thofe teader ties, public and private^ 
 J adjure you to flop on the extreme 
 verge of the precipice where we 
 {land, do not plunge intp irretrie^ 
 yable calamity, into unheard of dif^ 
 trefs, your people, yoi^r family, an4 
 yourfelf, 
 
 January 15, 1781. 
 
 FINIS.